Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh today ruled out any investigation into allegations that his predecessor Praful Patel was bribed in an Air India procurement case in 2007.

“Anyone can write anything in a newspaper. That does not mean we will investigate. Air India will not have its own investigation into the issue,” Singh told reporters here.

“He (Patel) has said that he has not done anything. I have no further information on the issue. He had spoken to the Prime Minister. He told the Prime Minister that he is ready for any investigation,” Singh said in reply to questions.

A leading Canadian newspaper has reported that an Indian -born Canadian citizen,Nazir Karigar,would be prosecuted on charges of paying off Patel in a case in which a former Mumbai police chief also figures.

Patel has rubbished the charges as baseless and preposterous.

Karigar is accused of paying bribes and being involved in a bid-rigging scheme in 2007 in an unsuccessful attempt to win the contract from Air India for computerised passenger face recognition biometrics system. The airline ultimately abandoned the plans for such a system.